Now, the part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on there in Mark is actually in verse
number 7.
And of course, this is the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and it says, let's start reading
in verse number 4.
It says,
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was great, very great.
And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed
in a long white garment, and they were affrighted.
And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified.
He is risen, he is not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
And this is the verse I want to emphasize, verse number 7, it says,
But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee.
There shall ye see him as he said unto you.
And the part that I want to emphasize in that verse is just those two words, and Peter.
And it's interesting that he says that because he's saying, go tell my disciples.
And obviously we know that Peter is included in that group of the disciples.
And he says, tell my disciples and Peter.
It's interesting that he singles out Peter and mentions him separately.
And I don't believe that what God's saying here is that Peter's not a disciple.
Now if you would, go back to chapter 14, just flip back a few pages in chapter 14.
Look at verse 50.
It says in verse 50,
And they all forsook him and fled.
And that's talking about his 11 disciples that are with him in the Garden of Gethsemane.
So Peter is not the only one who had let Jesus down or been fearful, fled for his life, forsook
Jesus Christ in his hour of temptation.
In fact, they all fled.
They all forsook him.
But yet he makes a point to say, go tell the disciples and Peter.
Not saying Peter's not a disciple or that he doesn't love him anymore, but rather the
opposite.
The reason that he says and Peter is that he wants Peter to know that he still loves
him and that he's not done with him yet and that he still wants him to come to.
Because you know Peter, if you remember, after he had denied the Lord, go back if you would
to Matthew chapter 26.
After the cock had crew and he had denied the Lord three times, the Bible says in Matthew
26 verse 74, then began he to curse and to swear saying I know not the man and immediately
the cock crew, look at verse 75, and Peter remembered the word of Jesus which said unto
him before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice and he went out and wept bitterly.
So here Peter had committed a very grievous sin.
He denied the Lord Jesus Christ.
He had denied that he even knew the man.
He was ashamed of Jesus.
He was fearful of other people and he denied him and he forsook him and when he thought
about it and realized what he had done, he went out and wept bitterly.
He was very sorrowful and if we look at John chapter 21, we're not going to turn there
right now, but if you look at John 21 you can see that he basically quits serving God
and he kind of just goes back to his old life of fishing and he's depressed.
He's sorrowful because he knows that he's committed a big sin here and he's made a big
mistake and so Jesus is reaching out to him there when the angel says in Mark 16, 7, go
tell my disciples and Peter.
Make sure that Peter knows that he's included in that also.
Now what I want to preach about this morning is the importance of the individual to God.
The importance of the individual, not just the group, not just multitudes of people,
but how God loves the individual and the reason that I bring this up is because I feel like
a lot of people, the reason that they don't live a righteous life and the reason that
they often go into sin is because they lack an understanding of their own value.
Now go if you would to Matthew chapter number 10, Matthew chapter 10.
Now obviously we understand that pride is a bad thing and the Bible talks a lot about
the sin of being proud or arrogant or haughty and the Bible also clearly tells us not to
think of ourselves above that we ought to think and the Bible also says that in lowliness
of mind we should esteem others better than ourselves.
Therefore we should not go around with a proud or haughty attitude that says I'm better than
the people around me, but rather we should look at the people around us as having more
value or being more important than we are, putting them first and having a lowly mindset
that doesn't think, well I'm just more important than you are, but rather a mindset that says
you're more important than I am.
But I think sometimes people get the wrong idea about that and they get to the point
where they get so zealous not to be proud that they almost tear down their own value
as if they have no value.
And you'll hear a lot of preaching like this that says, you know, we're all dirt and we're
scum and we're wretched and we're losers and we're all failures, it's only by the grace
of God.
Look, I understand the fact that without Jesus Christ we would be nothing and Jesus said
without me you can do nothing, but I don't believe that God wants us to have an attitude
that does not understand our value and importance as people and that's why over and over again
in the Bible God explains to us how much value we have and how important we are to Him and
how important we are to His work and He doesn't want us to get this attitude that says well
I don't matter or I'm a failure or I'm all washed up.
That's not humility.
When you just think of yourself as a loser or you think of yourself as a failure, that's
not being humble, okay?
That's a negative attitude to have.
That's not helping you at all.
Look at Matthew chapter 10 for example, this is where Jesus is sending out the disciples
soul winning and He's explaining to them that, you know, He's going to take care of them
and that things are going to go okay for them, but look at what it says in verse 29.
It says, are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father, but the very hairs of
your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
So here Jesus is telling the disciples that they are valuable as an individual and He
says even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
And in Psalm 139, God said that the thoughts that He has toward us individually are so
many that they could not be numbered as the sand which is upon the seashore.
They are innumerable, He says.
The thoughts that God has toward us, the individual.
He talks about how each of us when we're in the womb in Psalm 139 is formed and fashioned
by God.
Not just accidentally we look the way we do or we were born the way we are, but that rather
God takes care to form and fashion us in the womb according to His will.
The very hairs of our head are all numbered.
He cares about the individual, He says that we have great value.
He said a sparrow doesn't fall on the ground without him knowing about it, but that we
are of more value than many sparrows.
And so over and over again God is reminding us of the value that we have to His work.
You see, I do not believe that the individual is just expendable and replaceable.
I don't believe that.
And I've heard people say, you know, we can all be replaced.
We're all expendable.
Or how about this, God doesn't need you.
You know, He can do without you and you're just lucky that He even uses you, but honestly
that is not a biblical teaching.
Go if you would to Ezekiel chapter 22, let's see if God needs you.
Ezekiel chapter number 22, let's see if the individual matters.
Ezekiel chapter 22, famous verse in verse 30, the Bible says,
And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before
me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
He's saying, look, I was looking for a man that would do the work that I needed him to
do and I couldn't find him.
And it says in verse 31, as a result, he said, Therefore have I poured out mine indignation
upon them.
I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath.
Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord.
Let me ask you this, would the people have been consumed by the fire of God's wrath if
he had found a man?
No.
He said, I sought for a man, I found none, therefore they were destroyed.
Therefore they were burned with the fire of my wrath.
And you know in Isaiah chapter 6 he was looking for a man, and he said, Whom shall I send
and who will go for us?
And then said I, Isaiah, here am I Lord, send me.
He found a man.
He was looking for a man and he found one.
Here he's looking for a man and he found none.
So just to say, well God's work is going to get done with or without you, and this Calvinist
garbage that says, well people are going to get saved with or without you and if God wants
somebody to get saved, they're going to get saved whether you go or not.
You know, it devalues our ministry, it devalues us as individuals and the work that God has
called us to do.
And if you would go to, where was the chapter that I wanted you to go on?
Second Corinthians chapter 5.
Second Corinthians chapter 5 and realize that God has given us an important work to do and
if we don't do it, it's simply not going to get done.
And when you say that, sometimes it bothers people when you say, you know, there's work
that God has for you to do and if you don't do it, it's not going to get done.
But that is the truth.
He said, I sought for a man, I found none, therefore they were destroyed.
Look at Second Corinthians chapter number 5 and it says in Second Corinthians chapter
number 5 verse 19, to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we as our ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray
you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God, for he hath made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
So the Bible tells us here that we have a job and that we have been committed or entrusted
with the ministry of reconciliation and that we, in the place of Christ, plead with people
to be reconciled to God.
In Christ's stead, meaning instead of him, he's not here on this earth, when he was on
this earth he said, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world, but he's
no longer in the world, he's seated at the right hand of the Father, and the Bible says
to us as believers, ye are the light of the world.
And that we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, we instead
of Christ are the ones entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation and so we plead
with people in Christ's stead and for Christ's sake that they be reconciled to God.
The Bible says we are ambassadors for Christ, we are ambassadors of Christ.
Now I don't know about you, but I feel like being an ambassador is a pretty important
job.
I mean there are ambassadors in this world that represent nations, they represent the
United States, they represent other nations, and I guarantee you that those people are
considered important people, I'm sure that they're well paid, I'm sure that they're well
respected, and that they feel as if their job is important, they don't feel like, oh,
I feel like I'm in a dead end job that doesn't matter, when they're an ambassador.
Now being an ambassador for Christ is a lot more important than being an ambassador for
the United States.
I'd be a little embarrassed to be an ambassador for the United States right now because of
some of the things that we're starting to represent across the world, like the world
is starting to look at us as the homosexual capital of the world.
You know I saw some stuff in the news this week where Russia is making laws against tourists
from the United States showing their open sodomy.
They said if you come as a tourist from the United States to Russia and we look at you
and you're openly gay, you're going to be arrested.
I mean but isn't that embarrassing?
Another country has to make a law and say we don't need these bunch of faggots from
the United States bringing all their faggotry into our country because we don't want our
kids to grow up and be a bunch of faggots, okay?
And so you know that's embarrassing.
I wouldn't want to represent, you preach like that on a Sunday morning, well you should
hear me on Sunday night if you'd come back every once in a while on a Sunday night or
a Wednesday night.
But let me tell you something, I'm proud to be an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm proud of it.
There's nothing to be embarrassed about.
You know there's nothing in this book that embarrasses me.
There's some things in this world that embarrass me.
It embarrasses me when a godless country like Russia has to school us on morality.
You're embarrassed that I said faggot.
I'm embarrassed that our country is filled with faggots.
That's the difference between me and you right now, okay?
But anyway, there's nothing in the Bible that embarrasses me.
And Jesus said if you're ashamed of me and ashamed of my words and this wicked and adulterous
generation, He said I'll be ashamed of you before the Father.
There's nothing in this book that embarrasses me.
There's not a verse you could turn to in this Bible that'll make me, well I don't know why
God did that.
You know, I'm proud of it.
I love the Bible.
I love every word of it.
It's perfect.
It's great.
I'll stand for it.
And you know what, I feel like being an ambassador of Jesus Christ, an ambassador of the word
of God is the most important job in the whole world.
Now look, I don't believe that I'm better than you.
I don't believe that I'm better than other people.
But you know what, I do believe that we both have an important job.
So I don't think of myself as unimportant.
I don't think of myself as expendable.
I don't think of myself as someone who doesn't matter and you know what, neither should you.
Because let me tell you something.
If I were to disappear today, if I were to die or be gone, you know what, I couldn't
just be replaced just like that as the pastor of this church.
You're not just going to replace me like a washing machine part or something.
You just replace it.
But here's the thing.
I'm not just saying that about me.
You're the same way and this is what you need to understand is that if you quit the church
or if you quit serving God or if you quit soul winning, you can't be replaced either.
Now yeah, we can reach other people.
We can bring other people into the church and we can try to get other people to fill
your job.
But if I fell over dead right now, there would be another pastor that would come in
and be the pastor or someone within our church would become the pastor.
And I'm sure that that person would do a great job.
But you know what though?
Something would still be missing.
And let me tell you something.
When you quit serving God, something's missing.
You have value as an individual.
You know God didn't just say well, nuts to Peter.
I've got 10 other disciples.
He said no no no, I want Peter to be back in service.
He knew John was going to do great work for him.
He knew James would do a great work and be the first one killed out of the 11 disciples
in the book of Acts.
He knew Thomas would do great works.
But he specifically looked at Peter and said, you know, I want Peter to continue serving
me.
I want Peter to be involved.
And I firmly believe that we as individuals all have value and importance today and that
if any one of us quits, that something's missing, something's lacking.
I firmly believe that we as ambassadors for Christ have been commissioned to reach this
world with the Gospel and that if we fail to go soul winning and if we fail to open
our mouths boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, there are going to be people
who don't hear the Gospel because we didn't bring it to them.
And the Bible tells us that if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
Did you hear that?
If our Gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost.
Even the God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not and there are
people today who will go to hell that you could reach if you would not hide the Gospel.
If you would let it shine, you could reach them.
You could pull them out of the fire.
You could see them saved if you would be an ambassador for Jesus Christ.
That's a pretty important job.
I mean, isn't that a pretty big responsibility to think that you have the power to go out
and deliver souls from hell by pointing them to Jesus Christ?
You say, well I don't believe that.
Well, you know what?
Join the club because you know what?
A lot of people don't believe that.
A lot of Baptists and a lot of Christians think what we do doesn't matter.
We don't have the power to deliver people from hell.
We don't have the power to change the eternal destiny because God already decided before
the world began, this Calvinist doctrine.
But you know what?
I don't believe that for one second and if you believe that, you're wrong.
You've been deceived by false doctrine because the Bible very clearly tells us that we do
have that power and the Bible said that upon this rock I will build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.
He said whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Look, we have the power to determine the influence of whether somebody hears the Gospel or doesn't
hear the Gospel.
Let me tell you something, how shall they believe on him in whom they've not heard and
how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent?
And if we're not going out and preaching to the lost, there are people who don't hear
and if they don't hear then they won't believe and if they don't believe then they won't
be saved.
And I believe that, if I didn't believe that I wouldn't even go soul winning.
You say well we should just go soul winning anyway because God commanded us to even if
it doesn't make a difference, even if we can't make a change.
Well you know what then, I'll just go for 59 minutes and 59 seconds and just chalk it
off as okay I did the minimum, right?
God told me to go soul winning, I did some soul winning.
But what makes someone go soul winning for three hours?
You know, what makes someone go soul winning all day?
What makes someone go soul winning, you know, multiple times in a week?
It's because they actually believe that they're making a difference.
They actually love souls and believe that they are an ambassador for Christ and that
if the gospel's hid, it's hid to them that are lost.
They want to shine the light, they want to get people saved, they want to make a difference.
Look, if I didn't believe that what I was doing was making a difference, I wouldn't
give it everything I got.
I'd only give it half.
I'd do the minimum.
I'm just being honest.
But I believe that we do make a difference.
I believe that if I quit or if I fail, God's work suffers.
If you quit or you fail, God's work suffers.
Souls don't hear the gospel.
We have the power to make a change in people's lives and in their destiny.
That means that we're important.
So we're important because of the work that God has called us to do and the work that
God has given us to do.
That makes us important as individuals.
But not only that, you know, God tells us over and over again, look if you would at
Malachi chapter 3, just how much He loves us as individuals and how much He cares about
us personally and how important we are and how much value we have to Him personally.
So first of all, we're important because we've been given an important job, right?
We are ambassadors for Christ.
We are soul winners.
We are people who God has entrusted to preach the gospel to every creature and to be ambassadors
of Jesus Christ.
You know what?
God gives us as individuals value.
And you know why I'm preaching about understanding your value?
And I'm going to get to this later in the sermon, but when people fail to understand
their value as an individual, they basically, they quit, they give up, they throw in the
towel, they just think, well I'm a failure, I'm washed up, I give up, I'm not that important,
the church will go on without me.
You know what?
The church will go on without you, but it won't be the same.
Something will be missing.
So first of all, understand that we have an important work to do as God's people and that
we are making a difference.
But secondly, understand that God puts a high value on the individual.
Now first He said in Matthew 10 that we are of more value than many sparrows.
And you might say to yourself, well many sparrows isn't really that valuable.
You know, I don't want to be compared to several birds.
That's not really that big of a value, okay?
Now look what he says in Malachi chapter 3 verse 15.
It says, and now we call the proud happy.
Yea they that work wickedness are set up, yea they that tempt God are even delivered.
That's the day we're living in by the way.
Verse 16, then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the
Lord and that thought upon His name.
Look at verse 17, and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when
I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth
them.
Now verse 17 is a beautiful verse because here he says that each of us as individuals
that are saved, each of us that fear the Lord, each of us that are believers, those that
fear His name small and great, He compares us unto His jewels.
Now jewels are pretty valuable, right?
Precious stones, you know, we think of rubies and emeralds and diamonds and sapphires, and
God says that we as believers to Him are like, He takes great pride in ownership of us.
He says they shall be mine, and He says they will be my jewels.
Then if you think of jewels, and if a woman owned jewels, right, because men don't wear
a bunch of jewels, right, but anyway, you know, women, when they own jewels, they basically
are going to want to value them and take care of them.
They might have a jewelry box that's locked, they might keep it in a very safe place, and
they might keep them polished, and the more valuable they are, they probably take more
care of them, and God compares us to His jewels, meaning that He loves us, values us, thinks
that we're important or expensive, and that's how He feels about us as individuals.
Now if you would, go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 7, and while you're turning there,
let me say this, not only do we have value as individuals because God has given us an
important job to do, an important work to do, being ambassadors for Christ, not only
are we important and have value because God loves us, has numbered the hairs on our head,
has so many thoughts toward us that they can't even be counted, He has also said that
we are compared unto jewels that He prizes and values and collects, but not only that,
there are a lot of other words that He uses to describe who we are in Christ.
He said in Revelation 1 and Revelation 5, for example, that God has made us to kings
and priests for His name.
So not only we're ambassadors, but we're also kings.
I mean that's a pretty important job, that's a pretty important person.
We're also priests, we're also His sons.
He said in Malachi chapter 3, I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth
them.
So we're children of God, we're ambassadors of God, we're priests unto God, we are kings.
Look does it sound like we're just nobody?
But here's the thing, when you feel like you're a nobody, when you believe that you're a nobody,
you start acting like a nobody.
And I like what Lemuel's mother said unto him in Proverbs 31.
She said, it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes
strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the
afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy
hearts.
Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more.
And what his mother is basically telling him is, you're too good to drink.
She's saying, you know what, give that to the guy that's in the gutter that's ready
to perish, give that to some derelict, let him drink.
But she said it's not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink.
And you know, when we realize who we are as Christians, when we realize, hey wait a minute,
I'm an ambassador.
Now who's ever flown on an airplane in first class?
Who's ever flown on an airplane?
You know, a few people.
And I've never paid for a first class ticket, but I've been upgraded to first class a couple
times because I was a frequent flyer and you get the free first class upgrades.
Twice I was just upgraded just by wearing a suit.
I literally, two times in my life, I've gotten on a plane just wearing a suit and they said,
oh you're dressed so nice, just sit in first class.
Two times.
I'm not kidding.
So see, it's all about how you dress, you know, as far as getting treated right in this
world.
But anyway, I've sat in first class a few times and you know what, people who are used
to flying in coach and they get to fly in first class once or maybe, you know, a special
occasion, you know what sometimes they think is the purpose of being in first class is
just free booze and they just want to drink as much as they can because it's free, right?
And there are people, wow, you mean I can just drink as much as I can?
And they just, their goal is just to drink as much liquor in first class as they possibly
can.
Who knows what I'm talking about?
And my mom was a flight attendant, you know, so she talked about this too, that this is
what would happen sometimes.
And I've seen it just in flying.
People who are just like, wow, this is my first time in first class, you know.
This is so cool, you know.
And they just want to drink it.
But let me ask you something.
If you were on an airplane and a foreign ambassador were there, do you think he's getting drunk
on the plane?
He staggers off the plane, sorry, hey I was in first class, you know, you got to take
advantage of it.
No, because you'd say, you know what, an ambassador's not going to be getting drunk, he's on an
important mission and people are looking at him and if they see him getting drunk, it's
going to reflect poorly on that nation, right?
Let's say there was a country that you'd barely heard of, right?
What's a country that almost nobody's heard of?
Throw it out there for me.
Latvia.
Latvia, okay, Brother Dave brought up Latvia.
It's this tiny little country, like, probably most people couldn't really tell us, you know,
what's the capital of Latvia or tell us anything about Latvia, you know, what is Latvian food
like?
I mean, I'm sure Brother Dave could tell us, but probably nobody else could.
Okay, what is the capital of Latvia?
Riga.
Okay, there we go.
How was on the tip of my tongue?
But anyway, you know, we don't know anything about Latvia, right?
So what if you, what if you were at the airport, right, and people were, there was kind of
a buzz saying, hey, you know, the ambassador from Latvia is on this plane.
And what if you just see him just getting drunk?
Wouldn't that just kind of be your first impression of Latvia?
Oh man, Latvia, that's where everybody's a drunk, you know, and really you're judging
it based on one guy.
Even though there's millions of people living in Latvia, you see that ambassador from Latvia
getting drunk in first class, you're just going to think to yourself, yep, Latvia, drunkenness.
Okay, so this is what it is when we're an ambassador for Christ, we should want to be
a good reflection of who Christ is.
We should want people to look at us and see the way that we live our lives and see that
we're not drunks, we're not lazy, we're not unrighteous, we're not adulterers, we're not
pornographers, we're not thieves, we're not fools.
You know, they should look at us and see somebody who's living a godly and clean and righteous
life so that it would be a good reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, because
if we saw that ambassador from Latvia and he was dressed sharp and he was friendly,
he was humble, he was polite, he was handling himself very well, he was well-spoken, you
know that would be a good representation of Latvia and we might even think I might visit
Latvia sometime because that guy was so cool.
Whereas if we see him being a complete idiot and making a fool of himself, we're going
to think to ourselves, man, what is up with Latvia?
What a joke, no wonder I've never heard of it.
That's what we're going to be thinking to ourselves, okay?
So what I'm saying is important people, they have to be very careful about the way that
they act and the way they live their lives and they realize, hey, people are looking
at me and so I better be careful.
It's the same thing with us.
When we realize our importance and our value and we realize that we're kings, that we're
priests, that we're ambassadors, you know, we're going to think to ourselves, man, I'd
better live up to that calling.
You know, if I'm a king, I better start living like a king.
I better start acting like a king and that means I'm not just living my life, fooling
around, thinking, well, it doesn't really matter what I do, right?
No, it does matter what you do when you're the king, when you're a priest, when you're
an ambassador, everything you do matters and when we realize the importance and the value
of that position that we hold, it's going to cause us to want to hopefully live up to
the trust that's been placed in us.
I mean look, God said to walk worthy of the calling wherewith you're called and if God
has bestowed so much love upon us that we should be called the sons of God, I mean the
Bible says behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should
be called the sons of God and God has given us that honor and that privilege and that
distinction.
Shouldn't we try to live up to being a child of God?
And if he's made us an ambassador, shouldn't we try to live up to that and be a good ambassador?
And if he's made us kings and priests, he didn't have to do that.
He could have just saved us and made us his slave or his servant, right?
And said sweep the floor, clean the toilet in heaven and we would have just been thrilled
to do that because we're just at least escaping the fires of hell but he doesn't just save
us and make us his serfs or his slave.
He says you're more than a servant, you're my friend.
You're my friends, he said.
You're ambassadors, you're priests, you're kings.
And when we realize that God loves us and has given us so much, we should want to live
up to that.
And it's going to affect the way we live when we realize, well you know what, it's not for
kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink.
Well the other people are drinking, other people are getting drunk, you know what though?
We're too important.
We're on too important of a mission.
We are too important to the work of God to be fooling around with stuff like that, to
be taking chances with alcohol or anything else.
We need to live a life that is worthy of the calling wherewith we're called.
Where did I have you turn?
Second Corinthians?
Go to Second Corinthians chapter 7 because here's something that we often see in life
When people lose sight of the importance of their calling, when they lose sight of the
fact that God still loves them and cares about them and hasn't given up on them, we see that
sometimes people can get depressed and defeated and quit on God.
And that's what we see happen with Peter.
Peter, because he denied the Lord Jesus Christ, he went out and wept bitterly and then after
he wept bitterly, it caused him to quit the ministry because Jesus told him that he was
not supposed to fish anymore.
He told him from now on you're going to be a fisher of men.
He wasn't supposed to go back to fishing, but in John 21 he went back to fishing.
So after he wept bitterly about his sins, several days went by.
Even weeks may have gone by and then what do you see him doing?
Just quitting on God.
Just giving up.
And remember Peter, when he was first called by Jesus, it was while he was fishing.
It was while he was there in the boat.
And if you remember, he told Jesus, he said, depart from me for I'm a sinful man.
You remember that?
He said Jesus, just depart from me.
Because Jesus wanted him to be one of his disciples.
He wanted Peter, specifically, he hand picked him to be his disciple and Peter said just
depart from me.
I am not worthy, I'm a sinful man.
You don't want me to be your disciple.
But Jesus said fear not, Simon, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
He said don't worry about that, just follow me.
So then we see again after he sins by denying the Lord and goes out and weeps bitterly,
he feels the same way again.
He feels unworthy.
Are you listening?
He feels like he has no value.
He feels like he's too sinful to be used by God and so he quits serving God and he goes
out fishing.
And you know what?
I didn't look at the exact number, but I believe he took six or seven other people with him.
You know, when he quit serving God, he took about six or seven other disciples with him
and they quit and they're following Peter's ways.
And Jesus specifically comes to him in John chapter 21 and reaches out to him and tells
him follow me, Peter.
Follow me.
But look, can you see how in 2013 the same thing could happen?
Maybe you have somebody who wants to serve God, they love God and they start serving
God, and then they commit a sin.
And then that sin might cause them to feel like, you know what, I'm not worthy.
Or to be depressed or sorrowful because of the sin that they've committed and to think
I'm worthless, I don't have any value, God can't use me, and then what do you see them
do?
They quit.
They quit serving God because they don't feel like they're worthy of being an ambassador.
They don't feel worthy.
Can you see maybe an ambassador who goofed up on something?
Can you see him resigning?
Let's say that, you know, we're really beating up on Latvia, but let's say that ambassador
from Latvia, let's say he did just get completely drunk on that plane, got a little carried
away in first class.
Can you see him maybe tendering his resignation saying, you know what, I'm sorry, I messed
up, I shouldn't even be an ambassador anymore.
But see, we as ambassadors for Christ, the difference is, and you know he probably should
be let go, but the difference is that Jesus doesn't want to let us go.
Because we're not just an employee to him, we're his children.
And you know what, he wants us to just get restored.
And the Bible says, if a brother be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.
Now look at 2 Corinthians chapter 7.
This is a great chapter on this subject of people being sorrowful after they commit sin.
Because sin makes us sorrowful, did you know that?
The happiest people you meet are the people who live a life of the least sin.
You want to be happy in life?
Sinless.
I mean, now you're never going to be totally without sin, but the less you sin, the happier
you're going to be.
It's that simple.
That's why in 1 John, he said, these things write I unto you that your joy may be full.
And then a few verses later, he says these things write I unto you that you sin not.
Because let me tell you something, when you sin not, your joy is full.
And sin is the biggest stealer of joy that there is.
It'll rob you of your joy.
That's why when David committed adultery and murder and committed sin, remember, he said
restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, because David had lost his joy as a result
of sin.
Because sin steals your joy.
Sin brings sorrow.
But what I want to teach you this morning, what this whole sermon is about, is that there
are two kinds of sorrow that can follow sin.
Sin will always bring sorrow to a believer.
Now unsaved people, they might just go out and sin and laugh all the way to hell, whatever.
But amongst those that are saved, though, sin's going to bring sorrow to your heart.
You're saved today.
I'm saved today.
You know, 90 some percent of the people in this room are probably saved.
If we go out and commit sin, I promise you we will feel sorrowful about it.
There's going to be guilt.
We're going to feel bad about the sin that we commit.
But there's two kinds of sorrow that the Bible teaches us about.
Look down, if you would, at 2 Corinthians 7 verse 8.
It says, For though I made you sorry, and sorry comes from the word sorrow, for though
I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent, for I perceive
that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
So what Paul is saying here is that, you know, I wrote you a letter, and he says, I know
that the letter I wrote made you sad, it made you sorrowful.
He's saying, I did, but I don't repent, he's saying, I don't regret writing it.
That's what repent there means.
It means a change of mind or, you know, well, I wished I hadn't have written that, okay?
But he says, though I did repent.
So he's saying, there were times in the past when he felt like, man, maybe I shouldn't
have written that letter because it made them so sad.
But he's saying, you know, now that I think about it though, I'm not sorry about writing
it.
I don't repent.
I'm glad I wrote it.
He says that it made them sorry, look at the end of verse 8, though it were but for a season.
So the letter made them sorrowful for a season.
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, he's saying, I'm not glad that you were sad
or sorrowful, but that ye sorrowed to repentance, for ye were made sorry after a godly manner
that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the
world worketh death.
So we see here that there are two kinds of sorrow, aren't there?
There's godly sorrow that worketh repentance, and then there's the sorrow of the world which
worketh death.
Do you see that?
Sin always brings sorrow, but there are two different kinds of sorrow.
There's the sorrow of the world, and then there's godly sorrow.
Go back to chapter 2 of the same book here, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, and we'll see this
illustrated further.
Let's see what godly sorrow looks like.
2 Corinthians chapter number 2, it says in verse number 6, sufficient to such a man is
this punishment which was inflicted of many.
So this is the guy we're talking about that had sinned in 1 Corinthians 5, and the sin
that he had committed was fornication.
That was the sin that he was committing.
So in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, we read about a man that was living in fornication, Paul
told them to kick him out of the church.
They said you must throw out this guy out of your church because you cannot have fornicators
coming to church, and he needs to be thrown out.
So they threw him out.
But after he was thrown out, that was like a wake up call to him, he got out of sin.
He stopped fornicating, he repented of that sin of fornication, he was sorry, he came
back, and so they punished him by expelling him from the church, but then he came back
and was sorry and wanted to be reinstated basically.
And so Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2, 6, sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was
inflicted of many, so that contrary wise, you ought rather to forgive him and comfort
him.
And look at the last few words of chapter 2 verse 7.
It says, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with over much sorrow, wherefore
I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him.
And he says in verse 10, to whom ye forgive anything I forgive also, for if I forgave
anything to whom I forgave it for your sakes, I forgave it in the person of Christ, lest
Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.
So isn't the Bible telling us here that there's a danger when someone commits sin and is sorrowful
that they could be swallowed up of over much sorrow?
So can you see how sorrowful can be a negative reaction if it's over much or too much sorrow
that swallows us up?
But he said godly sorrow worketh repentance.
Now look what he says about the sorrow that they had because he says in chapter 2 that
they ought to forgive him, we don't want him to be swallowed up with over much sorrow,
and so forth, go to chapter 7, that's where I want to show you, back in chapter 7.
Let's see what the godly sorrow looks like in chapter 7, it says at the end of verse
10, the sorrow of the world worketh death, verse 11, chapter 7 verse 11, for behold this
selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sword.
Now he's going to tell us what godly sorrow does.
What carefulness it wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation,
yea what fear, what vehement desire, yea what zeal, yea what revenge in all things
ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
So what he's saying here is that the right kind of sorrow after we sin is a sorrow that
says, you know what, I'm sorry I messed up, I shouldn't have got drunk on that airplane
or whatever, I'm sorry that I failed, and you know what, I'm going to pick myself up
and I'm going to do better next time.
You know, I'm going to start out a new day, a brand new day, forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I'm sorry I messed
up so I'm going to do better.
I'm going to fix it.
But the sorrow of the world is a sorrow that just says, oh I messed up, I guess I'm just
worthless, I guess I'm just never going to be a good Christian, I guess I'm just never
going to be able to serve God, I don't even think Jesus even wants me to follow him anymore,
I don't even think he wants me to serve him anymore, I'm just going to throw in the towel,
I might as well just go out and commit sin now because I've already screwed up anyway.
What's the use in even trying?
That's the sorrow of the world, and that's the sorrow that works death in your life.
Or the godly sorrow that says, okay I've sinned, I've made a mistake, but I'm going to repent,
I'm going to get it right now, I'm going to move forward now and live differently.
That's a good sorrow.
You shouldn't just sin and smile, ah I sinned, so what?
No you should be sorry when you sin.
You should be sorrowful.
But it should be a godly sorrow that says I'm sorry, so I'm going to fix it.
Not I'm just sorry, I'm such a loser, I'm such a failure.
And people think, oh how humble of you.
This thing of I'm a loser, I'm a failure, I have no value, that's not humility.
Yeah that's like a victim syndrome.
You start feeling sorry for yourself, right?
See godly sorrow is when you feel sorry that you've done wrong to Jesus, and so you want
to make things right.
You want to clear yourself, you want to make up for it.
The sorrow of the world is when you feel sorry for yourself, and you start being down on
yourself and absorbed in yourself.
Now look, let me give you a perfect example.
Let's take, for example, a young lady who loses her virginity, right?
It's a sin, I mean it's fornication, right?
The Bible teaches that we should be pure until we're married, but you know what the tendency
often is?
That once a young woman has made that mistake and has lost her virginity, you know what
she'll then do?
Just turn around and say, well, I've screwed up, I've blown it now, and then you know what
they'll do?
They'll just continue in sin.
And in reality what they ought to do is have a godly sorrow that says, you know what, I'm
so sorry that I have messed something up in my life that I can never fix, right?
I mean I've lost something that I can never get back again, you know, now when I get married
to my husband, you know, I'm not going to be able to go into that and give that gift
unto him.
But you know what, instead of just hanging your head and saying, you know what, I'm worthless
now, I'm a failure, I'm a loser.
You know what, you need to have a godly sorrow that says, you know what, I've sinned, I've
done wrong, but you know what, from here on out, I'm going to be pure, I can't change
the past, but I'm going to be pure and righteous from this day forward, I'm going to learn
from my mistake, I'm not going to make that mistake again, and you know what, someday
when I get married to my husband, you know what, I'm going to be the best possible wife
that I can possibly be, and you know what, even though I can't bring this to the table,
there's plenty of other things I can bring to the table and be a godly wife and my husband's
going to love me and I'm going to love him, instead of just saying, oh well now that I've
done it once, I might as well do it with every guy in the school, might as well just do it
with 20 different guys.
I mean, who cares, I mean, once you're not a virgin, right, just do it, no.
You need to have godly sorrow that works repentance and say, I messed up, I'm sorry, but I'm not
going to do it again, and not just quit, not just give up and throw in the towel.
You know what, there are so many mistakes that you can make in life that have consequences
that are obviously lifelong consequences, but you know what, it doesn't mean that God's
through with you, it doesn't mean he doesn't love you, I mean, look, Peter goes down in
history as denying the Lord Jesus Christ three times.
Shameful what he did, embarrassing, especially, I mean, a young maiden comes to him, he wouldn't
even stand up to a young maiden, he's, oh no, I don't know him, I don't know Jesus,
so I'm young maiden, like he's afraid of her.
But you know what, Peter began to, as a result of committing that embarrassing, shameful
sin of being embarrassed of Jesus and denying the Lord, he started to be swallowed up with
over much sorrow.
You know, when I read that Peter wept bitterly, I think to myself, you know what, Peter, you
ought to weep bitterly.
You've committed a major sin, buddy, you ought to be weeping bitterly.
But you know what, Peter, the next day, stop weeping.
Peter, dust yourself off and become one of the greatest apostles in the whole Bible,
and that's exactly what he did.
Because you know what, when I look at Peter and see him, and Brother Romero preached a
sermon about Peter, how great Peter was, he's in the book of Acts.
He wasn't in the four gospels.
A lot of his sermon was out of the book of Acts.
Why?
Because some of Peter's greatest works, his greatest preaching, his greatest ministry
that he's known for is the ministry that he did after he denied the Lord, not before.
The book of Acts is where Peter is a great leader.
The book of Acts is where Peter is preaching the gospel, and thousands of people are being
saved as a result of Peter's life.
What if Peter had just quit?
I denied the Lord, I'm a loser, I told him I was a sinful man, I told him he never should
have picked me as one of his disciples, I told him he should have just picked someone
else, why did he even pick me anyway?
He could have picked any of these hundreds and hundreds of followers, why did he sing
me out?
I told him I was a sinful man, I told him I was not worthy to be a disciple.
You know what?
I'm just going to go back to fishing, I'm just going to quit, I'm going to let somebody
else do it.
But you know what?
Nobody else could have done it like Peter did it.
All those great sermons, the great sermon at Pentecost, the great sermon when Peter
and John walked into the temple in chapter 5, I mean, the great sermons that he preached
when he stood before the Jews and said we ought to obey God rather than men, when he
stood before them and said, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, and he had great boldness,
he preached with power, God used him to perform miracles, he wrote the books of 1st and 2nd
Peter, but what if he had just quit?
So you see how ridiculous it is to just think, you know what, I'm just going to quit, I'm
just going to give up, especially if you're a teenager, you're in your 20s and you're
going to quit, you're 30, you're 40 and you're saying, I'm done, I'm washed up, God can't
use me.
Look, you've got your whole rest of your life ahead of you to do something for God.
Don't be swallowed up with the sorrow of the world, don't give up and have this ungodly
sorrow that's a feeling sorry for yourself, I'm a loser, God can't use me, nobody loves
me, I don't have any value, look, God still loves Peter and God still loves you even if
you've failed, even if you've made mistakes.
It's not like you just can't be of any value anymore, or you can't serve God anymore because
you can.
And that's why he said, go tell the disciples and Peter, he's saying, look Peter, I meant
what I said when I chose you to follow me and I want you to keep following me, I know
you messed up but I want you to keep following me.
Go if you would to John 21, John chapter number 21, this is where we see the story about Peter
where Jesus reaches out to him.
And you see a lot of things, a lot of doctrines in the Bible and a lot of concepts in life
they're about balance, you know, and sometimes people get an imbalanced view of things.
For example, if they get an imbalanced view of pride being a sin, they think, well pride's
a sin, I don't want to be proud or arrogant or think that I'm better than others.
Then they'll accidentally go to the opposite extreme, which is just, I'm a loser, I'm nobody,
I don't have any value, I'm dirt, I'm scum, I'm wretched, I'm filth.
No you're not.
You're a child of the King.
You're a child of God.
You're an ambassador for Jesus Christ.
All things are passed away, all things have become new.
You know what?
Any time you want to, you can walk in the Spirit, you can deny self, you can be crucified
with Christ, you can put to death the sinful flesh, you can mortify the flesh, mortify
the members of your uncleanness, and you can walk in the Spirit and you'll not fulfill
the lust of the flesh.
You can shoot, any time you say, well I'm just kind of, I've just always kind of been
a half in, half out Christian.
You don't have to be.
Well, I'm just, you know, I've tried before and I'm just, you know, I just can't really
serve God.
I just, I've tried to live a righteous life, this is just who I am.
Change.
You can change.
You know, you can, any time you want to, you can start coming to church more.
Any time you want to, you can start soul winning.
Any time you want to, you can start reading your Bible every day.
There are people who are older than you, I'm too old to change.
There are people who are older than you that have made big changes in their lives.
And they don't just say, well this is just who I am, I'm just not a good Bible reader,
I'm just not a good Christian, I'm just kind of worldly, I'm just not really big on church.
You can still change at any point and God is ready at any time to receive you with open
arms like the prodigal son and say, come home son.
And by the way, that story's not about salvation.
He was already a son.
He was just a son who'd gone back to the world.
And you know, we're God's sons.
And you know what, it's possible for us to backslide and go back to the world and get
out of church and get back into sin, but you know what, any time we want to, when we get
sick of living in the pen, in the pig pen of filth of the world, any time we want to,
we can take a shower and come home and God's waiting there at open arms to kill the fatted
calf and put a ring on our finger and tell us welcome home.
And by the way, so is faithful word Baptist Church.
You know, when you quit the church, and you know, there are a lot of people who've quit
our church, and you know, they got backslidden, is a lot of times, now if somebody switches
from this church to another Bible believing church, well, great.
If you like it better over there, if you can't see the difference, go ahead.
But I'll say this, but I'll say this though.
A lot of times people quit the church because they get backslidden.
They start getting into sin.
Now sometimes people just switch from one church to another and that's perfectly fine.
Sometimes people quit the church because they get backslidden and they just aren't going
to church anywhere.
You know, maybe they get into drinking, they get into pornography, they get into drugs,
they get into fornication, they get into sin, whatever.
Or maybe they just get a little backslidden and just get kind of lazy.
They just kind of start going to the lake on Sundays or something.
But here's the thing, you know what?
When people are out of church like that, sometimes they have a tendency to believe, you know,
well, I can't go back, it's too embarrassing.
Right?
You know, they're out of church for a long time and they think, well, if I come back
it's embarrassing.
Or if I come back people are going to treat me bad because I've been gone.
But you know what, it's not true.
Because honestly, when you come back to church, when you get out of church and you get backslidden
and you get into sin and maybe you even commit a big sin, like maybe you even do go out and
get drunk.
Or maybe you even do go out and commit fornication.
You know, maybe you do commit a big sin like that.
But you know what, though?
We're always ready when you come back, we're always happy to see you when you come back.
And by the way, when people come back, don't walk up to them and say, where have you been?
I've seen people do that and I'm always just like, no, don't do that.
Because I'll always, I'll see somebody who's been gone for several months and then they'll
walk through the door and I'm like, praise the Lord, thank God.
You know, the prodigal has returned.
It's so good to see them.
They want to do right, they're taking a step toward God, hallelujah.
But you know what, other people sometimes will walk up to them, where have you been?
What have you been doing for the last few months?
And then they're like, oh, oh, oh, you know.
I mean they, you know, and then they either have to tell them, well I've just been out
of church and that's embarrassing or you know, or I've been going to some liberal church
and that's really, that's really embarrassing, you know.
You know what, when people come back you shouldn't sit there and ask them, where have you been?
You need to account for this, like a job application, you need to account for why you were out of
work, you know, during this time, you know.
You need to give an account for this time where you were out of church.
I want to know what you were doing, where you were going to church.
You know what we should do instead?
What I do when somebody's gone and they come back, I just walk up and just say, man, it's
good to see you buddy, great to see you, how you doing?
God bless you, thanks so much for coming, man, great to see you.
And just, I just act like they haven't even been gone.
Because you know what, that's how, I believe from the bottom of my heart that that's how
God is up in heaven.
That when we're backslidden and when we've quit soul winning and when we've quit reading
our Bible and when we've quit serving God, I believe he's waiting on the porch for us
with open arms, ready to kill the fatted calf whenever we're ready to come home.
Now look, that's not to say there aren't any consequences for our actions, but it is to
say that it's never too late to do something for God and to pick it up and to realize that
God cares about you.
And the enemy of this is when you start thinking, God doesn't love me.
And you know, who has ever, I mean look, don't raise your hand, but in your heart just as
a, have you ever had the thought, I don't think God loves me, I don't feel like God
loves me?
Because I can honestly say, I've had that feeling before.
I've thought to myself, and it's stupid, right?
Because the Bible tells us that he loves all his children.
And the Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
I mean once we're saved, and you know the Bible does talk about God hating certain people,
but it's always these really bad, unsaved reprobates when he talks about hating these
violent evildoers and haters about, but you know what, once you're saved, there's nothing
that can separate you from the love of God, the Bible says.
Nothing and he lists all these things and he says none of these things can separate
us from the love of God.
But you know what, we as believers sometimes have the irrational thought that says, you
know what, I just don't feel like God loves me.
And the reason why is because I've messed up in this area, I've messed up in this area,
I just feel like God doesn't love me, God doesn't care about me, God's through with
me or whatever.
You know, that's a thought that we have, it's not true.
It's against the scripture, but it's something that can enter into our mind, isn't it?
Sometimes you might even have an irrational thought as a child that says my parents don't
love me.
And you know your parents love you, you know, or maybe you might think my wife doesn't love
me or my husband doesn't love me, and of course they love you.
But sometimes you can feel that way because you feel unworthy, because you've made mistakes,
because you've said something stupid or you've done something stupid, and we've all done
and said stupid things.
But we need to realize that God does still love us.
And then you might even think, well, the church doesn't love me.
The church doesn't want me anymore.
But in reality, we do love you, we do want you here.
But you can start to just feel like a loser and feel like a failure.
And you know what?
It is not humility, it's not godly sorrow, it's the sorrow of the world.
And it works death.
And when you see people today that are depressed, right?
And depressed implies that you're not just sat on one day or two days, right?
Depressed, isn't that something that's like months of depression?
You know what?
That is not a godly sorrow.
Because a godly sorrow says, you know what?
I'm sad.
Yes, I committed sin, of course I'm sad about it.
But I'm going to confess it and forsake it, and I'm going to serve God, I'm going to do
greater things for God than I've ever done.
I'm going to have zeal for God to make up for it.
Okay.
Now look, there are always going to be consequences.
I'll close with this.
Look at John chapter 21.
This is in John 21 where Peter goes out fishing, he quits on God, he's been overcome with overmuch
sorrow.
Look what Jesus says to him in verse number 15.
It says, so when they had dined, so they all sit down and eat and everybody's kind of afraid
to say anything.
And it says the disciples were kind of nervous and scared to say anything.
They knew it was Jesus but they didn't really know what to say because, you know, He kind
of caught them doing something that they weren't supposed to be doing.
And so they're all sitting there eating, and here's what Jesus says.
He said, Simon Peter, He said, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?
He saith unto him, Yea lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, feed my lambs.
Verse 16, He saith to him again the second time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me.
He saith unto him, Yea lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me.
Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?
And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Now Jesus' love for Peter was never called into question.
We know Jesus loved Peter, he never stopped loving Peter, that's not in question here.
But here Peter is being questioned by Jesus about Peter's love toward him.
And the reason he asked him three times is because Peter denied him three times.
And that's why it grieved Peter when he asked him the third time because he realized the
point that Jesus was driving in about, you denied me three times, why don't you love
me?
Why don't you stand up for me?
And so, you know what, he's being chastised here verbally, isn't he?
He's rebuking Peter here.
He's telling him that what he did is wrong by asking him three times if he loves him.
But at the same time, if you look at the response he gives each time when Peter tells him he
loves him, he says, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.
Is he saying, Peter, you don't love me, I'm through with you?
He's giving him a job to do.
He's saying, Peter, redeem yourself.
Look, you messed up, Peter, you denied me three times, but I want you to serve me.
I want you to get back to feeding the sheep and feeding the lambs.
And he says in verse 18, verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young thou girdedst
thyself and walkest whither thou wouldest, but when thou shalt be old thou shalt stretch
forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
What he's saying there is that Peter, when he gets old, is going to be killed for the
cause of Christ.
He's going to be dragged somewhere that he did not want to go because he wasn't willing
to die for him.
Because Peter said, I'm willing to die for you, and he said, no, you'll deny me three
times before the night's over.
And that's why Peter denied him is because Peter thought that he was going to be killed
too.
Because remember, they crucified Jesus, he thought he was going to be executed as well.
And that's why he denied him.
And you know what Jesus is telling him here is that, you know what, you will be executed.
You will be executed.
You're going to spread forth your hands, and you know, history tells us, we don't see this
in the Bible, history tells us that Peter was crucified upside down.
That's what they say.
That's what the history books tell us, that the Apostle Peter was later crucified upside
down.
I don't know whether that's true or not, but from what Jesus told him here, it does seem
that eventually he was crucified.
He was killed the same way Jesus was.
He was dressed by someone else and dragged somewhere against his will, and his hands
were spread forth, and he was crucified.
And he talks about it.
Peter talks about it in the book of, I believe, 2 Peter.
First or 2 Peter, he mentions the fact that, you know, that our Lord had showed him that
he was going to die for the cause of Christ.
So if we compare 1 and 2 Peter with this passage in John 21, that's what Jesus is telling him.
You know, you denied me to avoid execution, but eventually you will be executed for me.
But look what he says in verse 19, this spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify
God.
So he's telling him exactly, specifically what death, and he mentions stretching forth
of the hands, right?
Sounds like crucifixion.
But watch this, and when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me.
Now look, that's the perfect example right there.
When we sin, when we mess up, when we commit a big sin like Peter did, you know what's
going to happen?
There's going to be consequences for our actions, we're going to be verbally rebuked either
by God or someone else in our life is going to verbally rebuke us.
Like remember, Nathan was used by God to rebuke David.
We're going to be verbally rebuked.
There's going to be a punishment or a consequence.
Here the punishment is that he's going to be killed for the cause of Christ.
But then there's always another chance to get back up.
He says follow me.
He didn't say, you know what, you can't be a disciple anymore, I'm going to pick someone
else.
He said, no, follow me.
Be my disciple.
Be the best disciple you can possibly be.
Feed my sheep.
Feed my life.
Be a leader.
Strengthen the brethren.
Do something great for me.
Be the great preacher of Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4.
Follow me.
You see how God cares about the individual?
He loved the man Peter, and you know what, he loves you too.
And you know what, you may have been the biggest failure up to this point.
You can be a great Christian.
And maybe you were a great Christian in the past and you've since backslidden and you've
begun to fail and to falter.
Don't start feeling worthless.
Don't start feeling like a loser.
Just pick yourself up and do it right.
And have godly, when you sin, have godly sorrow that works repentance.
Not the overmuch sorrow of the world that works death.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word and for a great man like Peter.
We know that many people today are named Peter because this man was such a great man that
people want to name their child after him.
And he's one of the great men of the Bible, one of the apostles, one of the authors of
the Bible, and one of the people that we look at as a great example of the faith.
Lord, help us to realize that you love us also.
Just as much as you love Peter, just as much as you singled him out, also the hairs of
our own heads are numbered.
Help us to never feel unloved.
Help us never to feel like we can't repent of our sin and get back on the horse.
Help us to never feel like we can't come back to church or come back to serving you.
Lord, please just help us to realize our importance and our value and the importance that you've
placed on our lives and on our work and help us to walk worthy of the calling wherewith
we're called.
In Jesus' name we pray.